Lord of the Rings Online’s been expanded. Originally due out on the 18 November, a power shortage saw the release of Helm’s Deep delayed till earlier today. I hope you used those extra days to sharpen your axe and hone your sword because you’re going to need all your strength to beat back Sauron’s hordes.
There’s a trailer of epic proportions below to announce the expansion’s arrival.
“Due to a power issue at our datacenter, all services within the datacenter lost power,” Turbine wrote on the game’s Facebook page last Sunday. “For unknown reasons, the backup power systems did not properly come online causing all services to lose power and go offline. Once the power issue is resolved, we will begin the process of verifying and restoring our games and websites. We appreciate your patience and apologize for the inconvenience.”
Shortly after power was restored the team recognised the expansion wouldn’t make its planned release the next day.
However, after three days of frantic work in which many a finger became blistered and a coder’s back became sore, “Starting today they can join with the Free Peoples of Middle-earth in the Battle of the Hornburg and experience this epic conflict first hand,” writes Kate Paiz, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online.
The expansion brings a fair few new features to the table. Of course, you are now free to take part in the Battle for Helm’s Deep. You only need to be level 10 to take part as you can enlist as a lowly soldier. But there are also new areas to explore. Western Rohan’s been strapped onto the game’s map. There you’ll have to rally the five ridings of Rohan and take that army to Helm’s Deep. Plus, you can now reach the new high level of 95, with new skills and class specialisations to match.
You can pick up the expansion pack from the game’s site.